PGN Web Editor Help

1.0 What you can do with PGN Web Editor

2.0 Viewing games

3.0 Setting up a position

4.0 Recording a game

5.0 Using the second board

6.0 Preparing your games for publishing

7.0 System requirements



1.0 What you can do with PGN Web Editor

Here are some suggestions:

2.0 Viewing games

To view games you must be in the view mode. Entering the View mode is achieved by clicking View below the main board.

2.1 How to load a game

First, open your PGN file with the game that you want to load, with Notepad. Then copy the PGN game to the clipboard. You can do this by highlighting the PGN game with the mouse and clicking Edit - Copy menu or using the Windows shortcut (Ctrl + Ins). Paste the copied PGN game from the Clipboard into the PGN textarea in the upper right corner of the applet. You can do this by clicking inside this textarea and clicking Edit - Paste menu or using the Windows shortcut (Shift + Ins). The PGN game should appear in the textarea. Click the Load button. The game should be loaded. It will appear in the left ScoreSheet and the initial position of the game will appear in the main board.

2.2 How to navigate through a game

Move forward and back by clicking the ">" button and the "<" button below the game score. To move ahead/back five moves at a time, click the ">>" and "<<" buttons. To move to the beginning/end of a game click the "<<<" and ">>>" buttons. You can also move to anywhere in the game by clicking on the move in the ScoreSheet.

2.3 How to follow comments

As you move through the game the annotation for every move is displayed in the Annotations textarea under the main board. You can read the annotations and follow the moves by executing them (manually dragging the pieces) on the Analysis board. This is handy when following lengthy variations.

Also in the second Annotation textarea (under the Analysis Board) the whole score of the game is presented in the booklike format so it is possible to see annotations to several moves simultaneously. It is also possible to cut and paste the annotations from the right textarea into your favorite text editor for further editing.

3.0 Setting up a position

In order to set up a position, you must be in the Set mode. Entering the Set mode can be done by clicking Set which is underneath the main board.

3.1 Sweeping the board

To sweep all the pieces off the board, click the Sweep button.

3.2 Putting pieces on the board

To put pieces on the board you need to drag the desired piece, either black from the top or white from the bottom, onto the desired square.

3.3 Taking pieces off the board

In order to take pieces off the board, just drag them outside the board boundary.

3.4 Setting up the initial position

To set up the initial position, click the Start button.

3.5 Setting up the starting move

While setting up the position, enter in a number in the First Move Number textarea. Default is 1.

3.6 Setting up castle flags

Check/uncheck the castle flags at the top of the screen.

4.0 Recording a game

To record games, you must be in Edit mode. You can start recording either a white or black move first. When starting from the initial position with all the pieces, one obviously will start with white to move. However if your starting position contains only several pieces (e.g. this is a fragment of your endgame) it is possible just to start with a Black move.

4.1 Moving pieces

Just drag the pieces to make the moves. The moves will be recorded in the ScoreSheet. Illegal moves will be ignored.

4.2 Recording annotations

When at the desired move, type any annotation in the Annotations textarea below the main board. The Analysis Board can also be used for recording variations. Just move the pieces on the Analysis Board and they will be automatically recorded in the Annotation textarea. You can mix the textual annotations and variations at will. Note: moves on the analysis board are propagated to the annotations only in the Set mode. Also, before recording variations click the Sync button first. (See Using the Analysis Board)

When finished recording annotations for the current move, either navigate to another move, or record another move.

4.3 Annotating existing games

To annotate an existing game, Load it first. Then switch to Edit mode, then navigate to the desired move and enter comments, either by typing them in the annotations textarea and/or by dragging pieces on the Analysis board.

4.4 Saving your game

After you have recorded your game, click the Save button beside the PGN textarea. Your game will appear in the PGN textarea. Highlight all the text, and copy it to the Clipboard. For example click Edit - Copy menu in your browser or use the Windows shortcut (Ctrl + Ins). Next paste the Clipboard contents into your PGN file.

5.0 Using the Analysis Board

Two board analysis is Nimzowitch's recommendation. In this program you can use the Analysis board in two different ways. When the main board is in the View, mode the second board is used to follow lengthy variations from the Annotations textarea. When the main board is in the Edit mode, executing the moves on the Analysis board allows one to record those variations in the annotation textarea - just move the pieces and the moves will appear in the Annotations textarea.

5.1 The Sync button

When this button is clicked, the Analysis Board goes in synchronization with the main board.

5.2 Prev Ply Sync

Check this if you want the Analysis Board to follow the main board one ply behind. This is used effectively when annotating a game. If you wish you can uncheck this box, then the boards will be synchronized up to the recent move.

5.3 Auto Sync

Auto Sync controls if the Analysis Board is always in synchronization with the main board. This may be handy but performance on a slow computer may suffer.

6.0 Preparing your games for publishing

6.1 Inserting your game into a text editor

Load your game. Navigate to the end of the game, for example click the ">>>" button. The bookstyle formatted game will appear in the right text annotation area under the Analysis Board at the bottom of the screen. Highlight all the text, and copy it to the Clipboard. For example click Edit - Copy menu in your browser or use the Windows shortcut (Ctrl + Ins). Next paste the Clipboard contents into your favorite text editor for further processing.

6.2 Making diagrams

The current version of PGN Web Editor cannot make diagrams. However, diagrams can still be made by using a graphics program that is capable of taking a picture of your desktop. We suggest LView Pro. After a picture of your desktop is created, Crop or trim the picture so that any unwanted graphics are removed.

7.0 System requirements

Requirements: